Documents obtained by Radio Kerry have revealed tensions at MTU Kerry over what unions say is a failure by management to deliver on commitments to the Kerry campus.
A letter to the University’s Governing Body back in March from three unions, on behalf of staff at MTU Kerry, outlined their concerns for the viability of the campus in Kerry.
It stems from what the unions say is a failure to uphold commitments over the level of management based in Kerry compared to Cork.
The letter from Fórsa, SIPTU, and Unite, to the governing body of the MTU in March claimed that all appointed members of the executive team at that point were based in Cork, with no senior management roles calling the Kerry campus their base.
At that stage, six people had been appointed to the University Executive, which is responsible for the day-to-day management of MTU.
It consists of five Vice Presidents, five Faculty Deans and a Chief Corporate Officer, all of whom report to the President of MTU.
The unions said this is a direct contradiction of the MTU Integration Agreement, which was approved ten years ago by the governing bodies of the former IT Tralee and CIT to shape how the merger of the two colleges would take place.
They said the inevitable consequence of the appointments being based in Cork will be the gradual erosion of jobs and resources from the Kerry campus, and this is a deeply concerning situation for staff in Kerry.
They called for specific actions to be taken to address these concerns, including the creation of a ring-fencing plan for roles at all grades that will remain based in Kerry, ensuring a balanced and sustainable workforce distribution between Cork and Kerry.
They also asked for the executive management team to have a structured and transparent schedule of attendance on the Kerry campus, and to ensure accessibility and engagement with university leadership for staff in Kerry.
In the governing body’s response to the unions in May, it said all the Vice Presidents and Deans would be multi-campus, but the base locations of the rest of the executive yet to be hired was not yet known.
Last month, the MTU filled the rest of the University Executive, and it has told Radio Kerry the new appointees’ roles are non-campus specific, and all have university-wide responsibilities.
The MTU said the University Executive and faculties structures have been communicated to all staff, and all members of the Executive are accessible to staff.
It said it holds every second meeting on the Kerry North campus, but the MTU did not directly say if any executive are based in Kerry, nor whether it intends to carry out the actions requested by the unions.
The MTU said its Integration Agreement is now captured in its strategic plan which runs until 2027.
Both letters were released to Radio Kerry under the Freedom of Information Act.
